Gamasutra: The pros and cons of Bethesda's Creation Club

[Gruffydd]

Hey, Cuervo, no need to copy and paste your post onto every thread on the subject. Pick one. Anyone interested in the topic will find it.

[SMILINGMOON]

Pros ,modders get a few pennies.

 

 

Cons, way less good free mods in the future, than we are used to

[mac2636]

I feel like any talk of "donations don't work" is a very moot point considering how hand-tied we are by Bethesda.

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I think donations would work if a Patreon-style system (or even Patreon) were allowed by Bethesda, but it's not. And sure, some mod authors are flaunting Bethesda's "dislike" of the system and using it anyway, but I don't think this is a fair indicator of how popular the service would be, compared to if we were allowed to integrate it here and mod authors were allowed to talk about it freely and openly without fear of Bethesda throwing the rule book at them.

So much this! Even with Beth being completely in the way, some modders are making some nice side money on Patreon. Open it up and allow integration with Nexus and a significant amount of funding will start flowing towards authors.

[deathstyk]

I keep seeing a *lot* of entitlement, some going as far as to say "well we have the right to not pay for your work!" I mean...thats literally not true, you don't have that right you are currently just able to get away with it.

 

Try that logic with any other work, and see how far it gets you.

 

The idea is actually pretty solid, though I dislike using their bethesda fun bucks instead of simply paying with real money. Faux money system like that ensure minimum buy in, and basically force you to abandon the leftover currency as wasted cash, or spend more. womp womp.

 

Look at it like this, the really good modders basically now have a way to get their foot into the industry with paid work. Some already are, and this is just a passion project hobby, and for them it's no big deal. However, for the ones who are not yet involved in the industry, it's a pretty great chance to get paid to work on mods. Bethesda will basically interview, look at their portfolios, and then say "we want to pay you to make stuff, that we can sell for bethesda fun bucks".

 

Also, donations don't work. The only ones who get any sort of full time funding are the successful ones on patreon, and many people have looked into it, it's usaully just the smutty mod creators. Nothing against those, but the guy who makes new gun/gear mods doesn't tend to get as many dolla dolla bills when it comes to patreon etc.

 

*VITALLY IMPORTANT* Bethesda also has no plans of taking away or restricting free mods, literally none. So...the open forum world of giant tits, thomas the train dragons, and new companions is safe.

 

The only arguments against this I have seen fall into two catagories:

1. "The end is nigh! they will ruin mods and do all these terrible things, I bet bethesda will even destroy my other mods or something" Worst case scenario logic that assumes that *only* a bad outcome can possibly happen.

2. "How dare those corporate beasts try to take away my free stuff! It's my stuff, why would anyone think someone deserves to get paid? It's free stuff that nonexistant internet people make for me to enjoy, because the world revolves around me." Basic entitlement. You don't like the idea, because it simply implies that maybe you should pay someone who makes things you like. Because we all know you didn't use the donate function, and nexus mods has provided stats to prove literally almost no one does. Also you probably don't tip the serving staff when you go out.

 

The amount of curation going into it also means you won't see 10 billion reskin mods getting thrown up, and them expecting your money. (Like what happened when steam tried to do this, silly steam.) The whole application, approval, and submission of concepts idea means this is basically just paid micro dlc. microtransactions yes, although that term tends to apply to loot boxes or consumables so it seems out of place.

 

Will I personally buy them? Who knows, I doubt it, since I am sort of burnt out on these games. Just because I personally won't use the feature, doesn't mean it shouldn't exist.

[Kiowa7]

Ok, I am not a modder, that's far beyond my capabilities. I do think a lot of modders should be compensated for their efforts tho. But in my opinion this Creation Club is not about making pay to play mods or better mods

it is about control.

[Warmaker01]

$60 or so of a game when it's new.

$50 or so for Season Pass

If not Season Pass then varying costs of Official DLC, for FO4 it ranged from $5-$25 with 7 DLC packs whether you get them all or not

 

Then nickle and diming after all that, eh?

 

What a time to be a video gamer.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Warmaker01

[steamteck]

Personally I donate tons to the modder's I like. Only like $5 at a time but I donate whenever I feel like they've contributed to my game. .. But I'd be more reluctant to pay stuff before I tried it out. I'm picky and lots of mods don't work for my playstyle I thought would. Its a dynamic that exists in very few places and I like it. I don't think Creation Club will hurt and modding scene except for the controversy causing general ill will. I do think lots of folks are going to be disappointed by their profits but the main deal should really to be noticed. If it is about control, that's a big problem though. I'd like to think its not but who knows I guess

[eldiabs]

Sure thing. Good luck to the modders (how many remains to be seen) who move over to the creation club system. Hope it works out for them, and that they somehow turn their hobby into a profession. That's definitely every person's dream in one way or another. Nothing will change my mind that this is a bad idea for the community as a whole. It will work out well for Bethesda regardless as there are plenty of people out there with fairly ridiculous disposable incomes. More power to them. Microtransactions for the win. Seems to be the future of gaming. I'll have no part in it.

 

Patreon works quite well for many. It's BS Bethesda doesn't allow it, and now they will be monetizing the community themselves through microtransactions. Trying to argue that patreon wouldn't work is simply not acknowledging that is does work for those that have the drive to make it successful for themselves. If patreon was a possibility for modders, the more talented ones would almost definitely be able to make a living at it. Those that join the CC are simply giving in and agreeing to take whatever rates Bethesda offers them. Can't say that's the best way to follow a dream, but whatever! Good luck!

[vram1974]

My biggest annoyance is that while Bethesda employees are creating mods they could instead be doing a lot of other more important things such as:

 

• Fixing game-breaking bugs in their titles that have existed for years. Their shameful lack of updating games is a legacy of sorrow.
• Working on new titles like Fallout 5 or a Fallout New Vegas style (4.5) or Elder Scrolls 6 (It's been 6 years since Skyrim)
• Creating new original content

Mods are for modders. Creation Club is a waste of everybody's time.

[yourenotsupposedtobeinhere]

A few jealous modders who fume over Youtube people making money talking about their mods is giving Bethesda Softworks (Not Studios) an opening to fleece mod users and lower costs with "contractors".

To clarify. I started one of those threads. Said some things I regret. If youtube wants to pay youtubers for talking, or "reviewing" my content, I don't really care. I was really just disappointed that the ones that did review my mod didn't play it. I'm human and make mistakes.